School bus driver made call that saved man beaten with ax handle

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UPDATE:

Lee Wilbur pleaded guilty to aggravated battery on Nov. 30, 2017. His attempted murder charge was dismissed. On Jan. 24, 2018, he was sentenced to just under two years (720 days) in the Department of Correction. After he's released, he'll spend another 720 days on home detention.

ORIGINAL STORY:

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Sept. 23, 2015) -- Detectives say a man beaten nearly to death with an ax handle has a school bus driver to thank for getting him help.

The victim, 41-year-old Jason Grubb, went up to the bus in early September and the driver noticed he was injured.

"As he approached the bus to pick up his own child, that’s when the bus driver noticed that Mr. Grubb was bleeding severely from the head," Detective Jeff Ripley, with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, said.

Grubb was found after he wandered to a nearby home and rushed to the hospital.

"He was in critical care (at the) hospital. He did receive brain surgery (and) a portion of his skull had been removed," Ripley said.

This week, officers arrested Lee Wilbur, 33, and charged him with attempted murder. Ripley said Wilbur and Grubb had been in a family fight for months and witnesses described seeing Wilbur hit Grubb in the head with an ax handle.

"On both ends there had been aggression. ... With family, sometimes these things can get fairly heated," Ripley said.

Ripley also said Wilbur had threatened to kill Grubb on multiple occassions, including via text message.

Grubb remains in the hospital and he is expected to survive. Ripley said the bus driver's call made a difference in the case, which is still active as detectives continue talking to witnesses.

Wilbur bonded out of jail and is due in court on his first appearance on Friday.